Description:We recently used Virasoro symmetry considerations to propose an exact formula for a bulk proto-field phi in AdS_3. In this talk we will study the propagator . We show that many techniques from the study of conformal blocks can be generalized to compute the propagator, including the semiclassical monodromy method and both forms of the Zamolodchikov recursion relations. When the results from recursion are expanded at large central charge, they precisely match bulk gravitational perturbation theory for a free scalar field coupled to gravity.
We find that although is finite, it exhibits UV/IR mixing effects in perturbation theory. Thus it may be interesting to try to define a modified, IR safe observable in place of the vacuum propagator. If we nevertheless focus on itself, then bulk locality breaks down at the new short-distance scale sigma_* ~ (G_N R_{AdS}^3)^(1/4) as a consequence of computable non-perturbative gravitational effects. (2:00 PM, 726 Broadway, 940, CCPP Seminar)